3pID2. Hot topics in engineering acoustics.

Session: Wednesday Afternoon, May 15

Time: 1:10

Engineering acoustics attempts to utilize contemporary developments in many
areas of science, technology, and analysis to produce acoustical systems and
products which address existing needs or create new opportunities. Topics in
engineering acoustics become ``hot'' when there is a convergence which
facilitates a ``quantum leap'' in some particular application area. Fusion of
new sensor technologies, microprocessors, signal processing, and electronic data
communication has produced new options in condition-based monitoring of
machinery and industrial processes. Advances in the speed and reduction of cost
in A--D and D--A converters, coupled with high memory density, has permitted the
development of acoustic time reversal mirrors which could have application to
ultrasonic nondestructive evaluation of materials. Computing power, new
inversion algorithms, and novel transducers have led to the commercialization of
resonant ultrasound spectroscopy which can determine the complete set of elastic
moduli for materials with sample sizes which can be less than 1 mg. The
availability of fast, accurate one-dimensional computer-based acoustic modeling
tools and new research results in studies of the transfer to heat from
acoustically oscillating fluids to solid surfaces are providing a new foundation
to design and optimize the next generation of thermoacoustic engines and
refrigerators.